A Different Invasion
by The Plaid Slytherin
Summary: AU. 10/Jack/Rose OT3. What if the Doctor and Rose hadn't left Jack behind at the game station? Now, Rose and Jack have to face life without the Doctor as an alien threat nears Earth.
1. Chapter 1

**A Different Invasion** by The Plaid Slytherin

* * *

**Notes: **Contains spoilers for Season 2 of Doctor Who. (Set during _The Christmas Invasion_.) Thanks to LadyChi for the beta. This is the first in a planned series.

* * *

Rose opened her eyes. Her head was aching badly, but she couldn't tell if it was from lying on the floor of the TARDIS or from… something else. What was the last thing she remembered? Had she… could she have gone home? No, she was in the TARDIS. She remembered the Daleks, but everything seemed all right now; she heard voices, the Doctor's and Jack's, talking quietly.

Jack!

She sat bolt upright. He was right there, leaning against the console, watching as the Doctor fiddled with the controls.

"Jack!" she cried. "You're alive!" The two men immediately stopped talking.

Jack grinned. "Last time I checked—whoa, watch out!" He caught Rose as she stumbled and helped her to her feet. She flung her arms around him and buried her face in his chest.

"I thought we'd lost you," she whispered.

"Nope," said Jack, pressing a kiss to her hair. "I'm right here, alive as ever."

"What happened?"

Jack and the Doctor exchanged glances.

"You don't remember?" asked the Doctor tentatively. He seemed slightly distracted. His eyes flicked to the back of his hand.

"No," said Rose honestly, scratching her head. "I just… it seemed like… no, it's nothing." She waved a hand dismissively. "I'm just glad we got out of there. Are _you_ all right?"

"Me?" The Doctor grinned. "I'm fantastic!"

Rose giggled. "That's great. So where are we going next?" She slid one arm around Jack's waist and the other around the Doctor's.

"I'm up for anything," said Jack. "Just as long as I never hear the word 'exterminate' again."

"There's got to be somewhere you want to go," said Rose. "You've been lots of places, too, haven't you?"

Jack smirked. "Yeah, but I've been a lot of places I'm not allowed back."

Rose laughed. "You're kidding. What did you do, like, kill the Gurg emperor or something?"

"Noo, but I did—Doctor?"

Rose whipped around. The Doctor had stumbled back, obviously in pain.

"Doctor? Are you all right?" Rose and Jack dashed forward.

"Get back!" he shouted. Then he winced.

"Doctor, tell us what's happening! What's wrong?" Rose looked frantically at Jack. "Do you know what's wrong with him?"

Jack shook his head. "I never learned anything about Time Lord physiology. No need to, they were all supposed to be gone."

The Doctor winced. "This is normal." He swallowed hard. "Time Lord's way of cheating death." He gave Jack a significant glance. "It's killing me," was all he said.

"No!" cried Rose. "Jack, we've got to do something! Come on!"

"Rose." The Doctor looked seriously at them. "Jack. This is normal. The thing is… I'm going to look different." He winced. "Different look, same Doctor." He smiled weakly. "See you in a minute." He gave one last jolt before exploding into light.

"Doctor!" shrieked Rose. She started toward him, but Jack grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back. He was watching raptly, but Rose had to look away, burying her face in the fabric of Jack's T-shirt.

After what seemed to Rose like an eternity, she looked. A stranger was standing there, grinning.

"Well, hello!" he chirped. Rose and Jack stepped tentatively toward him. He made a face. "New teeth. That's weird. Right." He looked at Jack. "So. What exactly did you do to the Gurg emperor?"

Then he collapsed.

"Doctor!" Rose dropped next to him. "Doctor, can you hear me?"

"_Peanut sat on a railway track, its heart was all a-flutter! Train came rolling down the track, toot toot, peanut butter!_" he sang. He burst out laughing and his head lolled to the side.

Rose shook him. "Where's the Doctor, what have you done with him?"

"Rose, I think that _is_ the Doctor," said Jack, crouching on the stranger's other side.

"Right in one, Captain," the man slurred. "Give that man a medal!"

"But… he can't be! That's not the Doctor, he's not our Doctor!" She looked down at the man lying in front of her. "He's got all this… hair."

"Oh, have I got hair?" The man grinned. "At least I'm not bald." He looked at Jack. "Am I ginger? Please say I'm ginger, I've always wanted to be ginger. Do you go in for ginger blokes?"

Jack looked at Rose in bewilderment.

"Oh, my head." The man put a hand to his temple and tried to sit up, slumping against Rose. "Oh, this is nice." He pressed his face between her breasts. "I still fit!"

Rose shoved him back in alarm. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, I've got an interestingly-shaped face, I think I like it. What do you think, Jack? Jack Jack Jackity Jack, oh, I like this tongue!" He stuck it out and leaned toward Jack as if to kiss him. Jack slid back across the floor of the TARDIS.

"Doctor, are you still in there?" Rose called. "We're going to get you some help."

He turned to look at Rose. "Stop all that yelling, I can hear you just fine. It doesn't help the headache. Oh!" A stream of golden energy escaped his mouth. "Oh dear." He collapsed again.

Rose looked at Jack. "Is he…?"

Jack tentatively touched his neck. "He has pulses," he said.

"Can you land this thing?"

"I can try." Jack got to his feet.

"So… if that's the Doctor… d'you really think it's the Doctor?" Rose joined him at the controls.

Jack hit some buttons. "It… might be. Seems to be. He tried to kiss me," he added, as if this was reason to trust the stranger.

The TARDIS lurched and the Doctor's unconscious body slid across the floor.

"If he really is the Doctor…" said Rose thoughtfully, but she was cut off by the jerking of the TARDIS as it dropped out of the Time Vortex.

"At least we're somewhere," said Jack, jerking a lever back in a vain attempt to control the TARDIS's trajectory. "Am I a good pilot, or what?"

The TARDIS hit the ground with a thud. He went sprawling over the control panel and Rose sat down hard. Everything was still.

"You okay?" asked Jack.

"Yeah," said Rose, taking the hand he offered to help her up.

Someone was pounding on the door of the TARDIS. "Rose? Are you in there?"

"Mum?" Rose ran to the door and wrenched it open. "Oh, Mum, it's so good to see you!" Jackie engulfed Rose in a crushing hug.

"Oh, I knew you could do it," she said. "I knew you were alive."

"Could do what?" asked Rose, but her question went unanswered as Mickey moved in for a hug and Jackie noticed Jack.

"Who's that?" she asked.

"Captain Jack Harkness," said Jack. He raised an eyebrow. "You must be Rose's sister. You can't _possibly_ be her mother."

"Jack!" snapped Rose. "Now is not the time."

"I like him," her mother whispered. "American, and that chin. I could die for that chin."

"Ooh." The Doctor dragged himself to his feet, leaning on the railing. "Jack, meet Jackie, Jackie, Jack. Ooh, that's confusing." He shook his head back and forth. "Jack, Jackier, Jackiest."

"Who's _that_?" asked Jackie.

"Where's the Doctor?" asked Mickey.

Rose pinched the bridge of her nose. "That _is_ the Doctor."

Jackie looked at him curiously. "Are you sure?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

The Doctor was beginning to slide back to the floor again, his eyelids fluttering. "G'night… all of you Jacks."

"Come on," said Rose. "Let's get him inside."

* * *

Together, Jack and Mickey managed to carry the Doctor into the spare bedroom of the Tylers' flat.

"I'm worried about him, Mum," Rose confided, as Jack wrestled longer limbs than he was used to into a pair of striped pajamas. (Rose wasn't even going to ask why her mother had men's pajamas lying about.) "All those times he's taken care of me—of _us_—and I don't know how to take care of him."

Jackie put a reassuring arm around her daughter. "We'll think of something. Call Mickey to come back with the car, we'll take him to hospital."

"No!" protested Rose. "We can't. He isn't human, he's got two hearts! They won't know what to make of him; they'll sell him to some lab or something." She was remembering Van Statten.

"But how will we know he's all right?"

Rose wondered why her mother was so concerned about the Doctor; she'd seemed to hate him the last time they'd met. She wondered what had happened to change her mind.

"If only I had some stuff," she said. "Like a stethoscope or something. Then we'd at least know if his hearts were beating."

"I'll see what I can do." Jackie left the room.

"You know, it's much easier getting clothes off him than getting them on," muttered Jack, as he forced the Doctor's hand through the arm of the pajamas.

Rose didn't say anything. Jack came over to her and pulled her into a hug. "Don't worry." He pressed a kiss to her temple. "We're doing the best we can."

Rose relaxed a little. "I know," she said quietly. "I'd just… I'd just hate it if we made it off that awful game station and lost him here."

Jack stroked her hair. "We won't."

"Here, I'm back," Jackie appeared beside them. "Look what I've got." She handed Rose a stethoscope. "Tina's got this lodger, a medical student..."

Rose sat on the edge of the bed and put the stethoscope to her ears, tuning her mother out.

"He's never done this before?" Jackie asked Jack. "How did he change his face?"

"No clue," said Jack. "They never covered this at the Academy. Other species, yeah, but not Time Lords."

"They're both beating," said Rose, standing up.

Jackie made a face; she still didn't seem to grasp the concept of having two hearts. "Are you two hungry? I'll go and get something."

Jack and Rose followed her to the kitchen.

"I'd forgotten it was Christmas," said Rose thoughtfully. "Hang on, what's that on the telly?"

"Oh, didn't you hear? They're launching a space probe." Jackie set three glasses on the counter. "I say, you could tell them a thing or two, don't need to send up a space probe." She filled the glasses with juice.

"Why's Harriet Jones there?"

"She's Prime Minister now," said Jackie, taking a sip of juice. "They're calling it Britain's Golden Age."

"Who's Harriet Jones?" asked Jack.

"We told you about her," said Rose, handing him a glass. "Stopped the Slitheen from destroying the Earth. The first time, I mean."

Jackie paled. "You mean they tried a second time?"

* * *

Rose had to admit that she felt much better after she had had something to eat, a shower and a change of clothes. She and Jack were watching coverage of the Guinevere One probe when Mickey came over to invite Rose out shopping.

"Can't do anything else for the Doctor," Mickey pointed out.

Rose frowned. "But I don't like leaving him."

"Your mum'll be here. Come on, Rose, I never get to see you anymore."

She looked at Jack. He shrugged. "I've always wanted to see twenty-first century London. Should be fun! Might distract us."

Rose hesitated. "Well…"

"Pretty please… with sugar on top?"

Rose grinned. "Fine, let's go." She grabbed her coat.

"How come you give in to him but not me?" muttered Mickey as they headed out the door.

* * *

The sights and sounds of Christmas in London were almost enough to take Rose's mind off the Doctor's situation. Almost.

Jack, on the other hand, seemed fascinated. "I've always wanted to see an Old Earth Christmas. I love that old-fashioned stuff," he said, indicating an inflatable snow globe, inside which Rudolph, Frosty and Santa danced to a tinny rendition of Jingle Bells, barely audible over the whirring of the decoration's mechanism.

Rose hid a smile. "He's so cute."

Mickey scowled, as Jack moved on to a couple of mannequins dressed in skimpy Mr.-and-Mrs.-Claus-themed costumes. "What's the deal with him, anyway?"

"I thought you liked him," said Rose. "You two got on fine when we were stopped in Cardiff."

"Yeah, but I didn't realize he was sticking around. It's getting a little crowded in there, isn't it?"

Rose smirked. "Oh, I don't know. It _is_ bigger on the inside…"

Mickey sighed. "Come on, Rose. It's Christmas. Can't it just be you and me on Christmas? Worry about aliens and monsters some other day."

"Okay. I'm sorry, Mickey. I'm just… worried, is all." She took his hand. "Right. Christmas shopping. Mum first?"

Mickey turned. "First, I think you better tell Captain Innuendo that that doesn't count as money."

Rose gasped. "Oh no! Jack!" She dropped Mickey's hand and tore into the shop. "Jack, put those back, we can't buy them!"

* * *

"Look," said Rose as they exited the shop. "I'll borrow some money from Mickey and buy you something else. Those were just too expensive."

Jack pretended to pout. "You're ruining my first—"

"Look!" Rose pointed across the square. The band of costumed Santa Clauses had lowered their trumpets. Suddenly, flames erupted from the instruments.

"Get back!" cried Jack, yanking Rose back into the alcove. Instinctively, he reached for his sidearm, but it wasn't there. He cursed.

"What are they?" cried Rose.

"I don't know, but we've got to get out of here. Where's Mickey?"

"I'm right here," he said, stumbling up to them. "It's you two, it's got to be you two. Nothing ever tries to kill me if I'm out with my mate Stan."

* * *

"Mum!" Rose cried as the three of them burst into the flat.

Jackie gave them a look and went back to her phone conversation. "Sorry, Bev, that's her just now. No manners at all! She comes crashing in here, messing up the place…" Jack ran into the Doctor's room.

"Mum, get off the phone," insisted Rose. "It's the Doctor."

"He's fine," Jackie hissed. "In there!"

"No, Mum, get off the phone."

"It's only Bev!"

Rose grabbed the phone. "Sorry, Bev, she'll call you back." She tossed the phone onto the couch and marched after Jack.

"We've got to move him," said Rose quickly, joining him on the edge of the bed. "They're after him, they've got to be. Do you have any idea what they are?"

Jack shook his head. "No, but they were wearing masks."

"But do you know anything like it? Anything with flamethrowers in musical instruments?"

He crossed his arms over his chest. "Something that adapts to its environment. They see it's Christmas, so they become something that'll blend in."

"But we still have to move him!"

"What are you talking about? What's going on?" asked Jackie.

Rose and Jack looked up. Rose opened her mouth to explain but she was cut off by a yell from the living room.

"Mickey!"

Rose, Jack and Jackie tore into the living room, where Mickey was holding a chair to his chest in defense against the Christmas tree which was advancing toward him.

Jackie screamed.

"Get back!" barked Jack. "Get back in there." He shoved Rose back toward the door of the bedroom.

Rose raced to the Doctor's bedside.

"We've got to get out of here," said her mother frantically.

"I'm not leaving him," Rose snapped back.

Outside, Jack and Mickey were rapidly retreating into the bedroom. Rose reached for the Doctor's jacket, which Jack had tossed onto a chair in the corner. She slid the sonic screwdriver out of the pocket and looked at it. If only she knew how to use it… or the Doctor was awake. She slipped it into the sleeping man's hand.

Jack slammed the bedroom door. "It keeps coming. I can't stop it. Damn!"

"Get the wardrobe!" shouted Jackie. In the corridor, Rose could hear breaking glass as the tree made its way toward the room.

The tree began to smash through the door. Jack and Mickey tried to push the heavy wardrobe across the floor.

Rose leaned down to the Doctor's ear. "We need you," she whispered.

The Doctor sat bolt upright and pointed the sonic screwdriver at the Christmas tree. It exploded in a shower of sparks.

"Remote control. But who's controlling it?" he muttered. He climbed out of bed.

Jack slid to the ground in relief. He was breathing hard. Rose was beginning to keenly feel that they had been going for a long time with no rest. She helped Jack to his feet and gave his hand a squeeze.

"He's okay, see?" she whispered. Jack nodded, and they followed the Doctor outside.

He was standing on the balcony, looking down to the street where the four Santas were standing.

"What are they?" asked Jack. Jackie and Mickey joined them on the balcony.

Slowly, the Doctor pointed the sonic screwdriver at the Santas. They backed away warily and disappeared.

"They're gone," said Mickey.

"Teleport," muttered Jack.

"They're pilot fish," said the Doctor, looking at Jack and Rose for the first time. He gave them a weak smile, before coughing and falling back against the wall.

"Doctor!" cried Rose. Jack slid in to catch him and eased him to the ground. Rose knelt at his other side.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Jackie.

The Doctor took in a gulp of air. "Too soon," he panted. "Woke up too soon. The regeneration cycle… it's not… finished yet." He coughed again and more of the golden light Rose had noticed him coughing up in the TARDIS escaped.

He groaned in pain and his head fell against Rose's shoulder. "The pilot fish zero in on the energy in my body. Time Lord regenerative energy's powerful stuff." He closed his eyes, wincing in pain and lurched back against Jack's shoulder, panting. "Very valuable."

Jack put an arm around the Doctor's shoulders to support him. "Is there anything we can do?"

The Doctor took a deep breath. Rose took his hand and squeezed it gently. His other hand flopped against Jack's denim-clad knee.

"Something's coming," he whispered. He swallowed hard, obviously finding it difficult to talk, but knowing he had to tell Jack and Rose what to do. "If they're sending Pilot Fish, they must be close. They're coming after me. Just let me rest." He shivered, his face contorted with what looked like impossible pain. "All I can tell you is let me rest. When they come… I need to be a ready as possible." He closed his eyes and slumped forward.

* * *

"Just help me tuck him in," whispered Rose, as Jack eased the Doctor back into bed. "He's getting feverish."

Jack helped her slide the blanket up to the restless Doctor's shoulders. Rose sat on the edge of the bed and pressed a hand to his forehead.

"He's burning up," she said mournfully.

Jack sat slowly on the Doctor's other side. "He was awake," he said quietly. "He was fine."

"He's worse than ever now," Rose whispered, choking back a sob.

Jack put an arm around her shoulders. "He'll make it," he murmured. "He always does."

Rose nodded and reached for the stethoscope. "I just want to take a listen."

Jack slid out of the way and Rose pressed the stethoscope to the Doctor's chest, first the right side and then the left. "Only one beating," she whispered, looking up at Jack with tears in her eyes. He hugged her tightly.

Jack and Rose stayed with the Doctor, in the hopes that their familiar presences would help him heal. Suddenly, Jackie gave a cry from the other room.

Jack and Rose jumped up and hurried into the living room.

"Right there!" said Jackie. "On the TV! It was an alien. That space probe took a picture of an alien!"

Rose studied the image on the screen behind the newsreader. "Do you know what that is?" she asked Jack.

He shook his head. "I don't know. But that doesn't mean anything. I do know he's not someone I'd invite home to meet the family."

"Rose. Jack. Look." Mickey indicated his computer screen. Rose and Jack went to stand behind him.

"Military tracking. Mickey Smith, I could kiss you." Jack leaned around him and tapped a few keys. Mickey slid out of his seat and Jack sat down. "Radar. Look, they're tracking something. Something big." He tapped his wrist unit and gave a low whistle. "Whatever it is, it's close."

"How close?" asked Mickey.

He looked at his wrist again. "ETA five-and-a-half hours, give or take a minute."

The image on Mickey's laptop flickered and four of the aliens came into view and began to speak a strange guttural language.

"They must have initiated communications," Jack continued. "Twenty-first century Earth couldn't do that." He furiously tapped keys on Mickey's laptop. "Do you get translation on this thing? Is that what this Alt is for?"

Rose leaned in. "The TARDIS should be translating for us, shouldn't it?"

Jack sighed and rested his forehead on his hands. "It's the Doctor. He's part of the circuit. The translation's the first thing to go if he's not okay."


	2. Chapter 2

By sunrise, Jack and Mickey had made no progress on translating the aliens' messages. Jack sighed and put his wrist unit back on, pushing the laptop away.

"They're just not compatible." He gave Mickey an icy look. "Someone's interface is too primitive."

"Hey," said Mickey defensively. "This is top of the line! It's not my fault if it's not good enough for Buck Rogers."

Rose stood up and sighed. "I'm going to check on the Doctor."

Suddenly, they heard yelling outside. Rose, Jack and Mickey headed for the door.

"Sandra?" Rose recognized the neighbor. "What's going on?"

"He won't listen! It's this light, he just keeps walking."

Rose looked at Jack, who looked deep in concentration. "That's blood control!" he said suddenly. "What blood type is he?"

Sandra shook her head. "Oh, I don't know, A positive?"

Jack dashed over to the balcony, Rose following closely. Mickey hesitated for a moment and followed them, as Sandra continued to pursue her husband to the stairs.

In the street below, there were hundreds of people, just like Jason, leaving their homes.

"Of course!" Jack hit his palm with his fist. "That space probe—you guys were always so concerned about reaching out, telling friendly life forms all about your species. But it turns out, not everything out there's friendly." He looked at Rose. "How much you want to bet there was a blood sample—an _A positive_ blood sample—on that probe?"

Rose blinked. "But what's it mean, blood control? Where are they going?"

"I don't know," said Jack. "They're going wherever the aliens want them to go. It's a control matrix. Whatever the master sample is has the power to control any living thing containing that same chemical make-up within a six Lyclon radius. If they're right above us…" He paused. "That means the entire Earth."

"So how do we stop it?"

"We don't." He shook his head. "There's nothing we can do." He ducked back inside.

Rose and Mickey exchanged glances.

"I really better check on the Doctor," said Rose, stepping away to follow Jack.

"They're going up to the roof," said Mickey, leaning over the balcony. "They're all going up to the roof."

Rose didn't hear the rest. She joined Jack in the Doctor's bedroom doorway.

"How is he?" she asked.

Jack closed his eyes. "He's gone," he whispered.

Rose felt her eyes fill with tears. The Doctor couldn't be gone! He was the Doctor, he was always supposed to be there for them! But this new man, this new Doctor… he had been too weak…

She threw her arms around Jack and sobbed into his chest. Jack held her tight and stroked her hair.

"What are we going to do, Jack?" she whispered into his jumper. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know," he said quietly, his voice cracking slightly. "I just don't know."

"What's wrong?" Jackie asked, coming into the room.

"He's gone, Mum," Rose sobbed.

"Oh, honey." Jackie placed a hand on Rose's back.

Suddenly, there was a crashing from the living room and the floor shook. The three of them rushed in to see all the windows in the flat had shattered.

"At least we know where the ship is," said Jack dully. As if on cue, his wrist unit chirped. He slapped a button in frustration and silenced it, cursing under his breath.

He crunched across the glass on the floor, heading for the door. Rose, Mickey and Jackie followed him all the way outside. An enormous spaceship hung over the city, big enough to block the sun. Rose felt a chill run down her spine.

Jack stared at it for a few seconds, then he grabbed Rose's arm.

"C'mon, Rose, I can get you away." He began punching buttons on his wrist unit. "My vortex manipulator. We'll go back in time and we won't have to worry about it."

Rose stared at him dumbly. "You're kidding, right? Jack, I'm not leaving my mum and Mickey. Or the Doctor. No one gets left behind, remember? The Doctor would've stayed and fought and that's what I'm going to do."

She turned on her heel and dashed back to the flat. Jack sighed and ran after her.

"Right," she said. "Jack, Mickey, you get the Doctor. Mum, get some food and stuff."

"Why?" asked Jackie. "Where are we going?"

Rose swept her hair out of her eyes. "The TARDIS. It's the only safe place I can think of."

"Why are we going in there?"

"To hide," she muttered.

"Oh, hiding," grunted Jack as he and Mickey backed out of the Doctor's bedroom, carrying the Time Lord's body. "That's a brilliant plan. The TARDIS is a much better hiding place than 1879."

* * *

Rose heaved a shopping bag full of food onto the floor of the TARDIS, not even bothering to chase after the thermos of tea that rolled out. She leaned against the console and sighed.

"Jack, are you sure you can't—"

"Yeah," he said, flopping onto the jump seat and putting his feet up on the console. "I can _land_ it." He shifted in his seat; his boot hit something on the console computer. "And there aren't even any weapons!"

"What about you?" asked Mickey, grabbing an apple from the shopping bag and taking a bite. "You flew it."

Rose frowned. "Yeah, but I don't… I don't remember. I mean—"

"Don't remember? How come you don't remember? You me and Jackie, we—"

"She says she doesn't remember!" snapped Jack. "And when she says she doesn't remember, you shut up."

"I don't need you to speak for me, Jack," said Rose irritably.

"Hey, I was just trying to help. The world could use a little chivalry."

"Well, you could've fooled me!"

"Just what I need," muttered Mickey. "Trouble in paradise."

"I'm going to go give Mum a hand," said Rose. She stomped to the door of the TARDIS, giving the thermos a good hard kick as she went by. Let Jack and Mickey clean it up if they wanted to be chivalrous.

She wrenched open the door. She only had a split second to register that the TARDIS had somehow moved, when she was grabbed by something huge—one of the aliens. She screamed.

"Rose!" Jack jumped to his feet and bolted for the door, shoving Mickey out of the way. "Rose!" He burst out of the TARDIS and was grabbed by another of the aliens. Mickey was right on his heels.

"Close the door!" she shrieked. Mickey slammed the door before being grabbed by one of the aliens.

Rose flicked her eyes around the interior of the spaceship. It was an enormous room, a cavern, really, full of aliens. The aliens holding her, Jack and Mickey shoved them toward a group of other humans. The aliens were all cheering.

"Rose!" It was Harriet Jones. She rushed over and they embraced. "The Doctor. Is he with you?"

Rose shook her head. "No. It's just us." She looked away, blinking back tears.

One of the aliens started speaking. Rose couldn't understand what it was saying, but it sounded like it was talking about her and Jack. To her left, she vaguely heard one of the men with Harriet Jones translating what it was saying.

"These two. They have the clever blue box. Therefore, they speak for your planet."

"But they can't!" said Harriet Jones.

"Yeah, I can," said Rose, stepping forward.

Jack grabbed her arm. "Like hell you are."

She yanked her arm back. "Let go of me."

He leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Who has experience with hostile negotiations, hm?"

The aliens began to chant.

"They're saying, 'speak, speak,'" said the translator.

Rose and Jack exchanged glances and Jack stepped forward.

"Right." He took a deep breath and rubbed his hands together. "I'm Captain Jack Harkness. That over there, is my ship." He indicated the TARDIS. "Fully armed timeship. Temporal bombs, ion cannons. I have enough firepower to blast you back to the Stone Age—_literally_." He shoved his hands into his pockets. "So. What do you say you set us down and go on your merry way, or face the wrath of Captain Jack?" He flashed a winning smile.

"What are you _doing_?" hissed Rose.

"Negotiating," he hissed back.

The alien leader advanced on Jack.

Rose screamed. "Get away from him!"

"'He lies,'" the translator was saying.

"It was worth a try," muttered Jack, watching the circling alien warily.

"'He is unarmed. Your planet is defenseless—'"

"—And he will be the first to die."

"'And he will be the first to die.'"

"No!" screamed Rose, darting forward.

"Your world will be gutted—"

"'Your world will be'—hold on! That's English!"

"Then that means… Then that means…" Rose looked at Jack. He was staring open-mouthed at the TARDIS.

The Doctor was standing there in the doorway, grinning, still in his pajamas and dressing gown. Rose smiled back. Beside her, Jack slumped in relief.

"Thought you'd never get here," he said.

"Well," said the Doctor. "I was a bit under the weather." He easily caught the end of the whip the furious alien leader threw at him. "But I'm feeling all better now." He beamed. "How are you enjoying Old Earth Christmas, Jack? Did Santa bring you everything you wanted? Well, I guess that would require you to have been a good boy this year, when I know for a fact you've—"

The alien charged the Doctor again, this time with a large staff. The Doctor grabbed it and snapped it over his knee, not breaking eye contact with Jack.

"Been somewhat naughty. Now that—" he pointed at the alien "—that was very rude. I was talking to my friend here. Now wait your turn, I'll be with you in a minute." He strode over to where the group of humans was standing.

"Well, look! It's Mickey! And Harriet Jones! Hail, hail, the gang's all here." He turned to Rose and Jack. "It was tea! All I needed was a nice cup of tea. Superheated free radicals and tannins. Heals the synapses just like that!" He snapped his fingers. "Now." He leaned in close to the two of them. "Rose. Serious question. How do I look?"

"Different," said Rose.

"Good different or bad different?"

She shrugged. "Just different."

"That'll do for now. Second question. My ears. Please tell me they're a conventional size."

"Yeah, I guess. They're smaller."

He nodded. "Now, Jack. What do you think of the hair?"

"I love it," said Jack, grinning broadly.

"Brilliant. Second question. Do you realize you put my trousers on back-to-front?"

"Um…"

"No matter." The Doctor waved his hand dismissively. "They'll be off soon enough."

"If I might interrupt!" roared the alien leader.

The Doctor turned. "Oh, right. Sorry. That was quite rude of me." He scratched the back of his head. "I suppose that's the sort of man I am now. Rude. Rude and not ginger. In backwards trousers!" He grinned at Jack and Rose. "I'm going to save the Earth in backwards trousers!"

"I demand to know who you are!"

"I don't know!" the Doctor roared back. Then, he smiled. "That is quite the question, though. See, I'm the Doctor, I know that. Yes, Harriet Jones, the very same Doctor. Just with a different face, unless Rose and Jack are having me on. And that would be _quite_ rude." He shook his head. "But beyond that, I _really_ don't know. I've just got to find these things out by trial-and-error. One time, I'd taken a big bite of peanut brittle before I realized that body was allergic. That wasn't fun. Apparently, I talk a lot. That's one thing. Oh! And another thing!" He sprang up to a large button. "I think I'm curious. Very, _very_ curious in fact. And I think—just a hunch, mind you—that my curiosity is going to lead me to investigate _this_."

"Doctor, I think that's—" Jack began.

The Doctor shook his head. "No, no, don't tell me, I like to guess these things." He peered at the controls. "So. If I were a—what are you?"

"They're called Sycorax," said Harriet Jones.

"Right. If I were a Sycorax, what would I hide under this great big red button?"

"Blood control," said Jack. "They're using blood control."

The Doctor threw up his hands in exasperation. "Jack! What have I told you! That's why you never get taken to movies, you always spoil the ending." He sighed. "Now that Jack's ruined our little guessing game, it's time for me to…" He slammed his hand down on the button.

"What are you doing?" cried Harriet Jones. Rose winced.

"Saving the Earth!" the Doctor cried. He grinned. "See?" He looked at the shocked faces before him. "Oh, don't look so shocked! It was just blood control. Oh, you tell them, Jack, since you're our resident expert."

Jack turned to Harriet Jones. "Blood control is a simple hypnosis matrix. It can't override the Conatus Circuit. It can't kill. It's good for threats, minor slavery. I'd wager they don't have anything stronger. Doctor?"

The Doctor stuck his hands in the pockets of his dressing gown and strode toward Jack. "Well, I make it a habit not to make bets with time travelers—why is there an apple in my pocket? Jack, this is strange even for you…"

He pitched it over his shoulder. It hit the Sycorax leader in the head. "Oops!" The Doctor put a hand to his mouth. "I seem to have issued a challenge entirely by accident. I guess that makes me a very unlucky man." He shook off his dressing gown and tossed it to Rose.

The Sycorax roared in anger.

"Doctor!" Jack grabbed a sword from one of the aliens guarding them and threw it to the Doctor, who caught it deftly.

"Right then." The Doctor pointed his sword at the Sycorax. "I am this planet's defender. Do you accept my challenge?"

The Sycorax charged. Rose grabbed Jack's hand. The Doctor parried successfully and the fight was on.

Rose didn't think she even breathed the whole time the Doctor and the Sycorax leader were fighting. She wasn't sure where the Doctor had learned how to swordfight, but she was glad he knew how.

The Doctor was able to meet every advance of the alien, despite their great disparity in size. Even when the Doctor was thrown aside, he jumped right up and kept fighting. Rose's heart was beating wildly.

"Is he safe to do this, you think?" she asked Jack. "I mean, just a minute ago, he was dead."

Jack nodded, unable to take his eyes off the scene before him. "I know! Aren't Time Lords amazing?"

The Doctor was guiding the fight up the stairs and out onto the outside deck of the ship

Rose and Jack dashed after him, followed by Mickey and Harriet Jones.

"Doctor!" shouted Rose. "Be careful!"

"Thanks, Rose," said the Doctor, ducking one of the Sycorax's thrusts. "Fighting on the outside of a spaceship parked above London. Guess I'd better be---augh!" The Sycorax leader had cut off the Doctor's hand. Rose watched in horror as it fell over the side of the ship, sword still clutched in it.

"Doctor!" Jack and Rose screamed in unison.

The Sycorax cheered in triumph.

"No," gasped Rose. "No!"

The Doctor smiled serenely. "I thought I was an unlucky man. But I don't think that's true." He raised the stump of his arm. "Because I'm still within the first fifteen hours of my regeneration cycle. Lucky me." Rose watched in disbelief as the hand grew back.

Beside her, Jack whooped. "I love Time Lords!"

Rose grabbed another sword from one of the astonished Sycorax standing on the deck. "Doctor! Catch!"

He caught it in his new hand. "Now I've got both of them throwing sharp, pointy objects at me," he remarked.

The Sycorax leader charged once more and the fight resumed. Rose continued watching in trepidation but her mood was substantially lightened.

After what seemed like eons, the Doctor overpowered the alien and jammed the handle of his sword into the Sycorax's stomach and knocked him to the ground. He held the blade of his sword to his opponent's throat.

He was speaking to the alien in a low voice. Rose couldn't hear what they were saying, but her heart was in her throat. Finally, the Doctor stepped back, thrust his sword into the ground, and looked at Jack and Rose.

They ran towards him. Jack clapped him on the back and Rose helped him put his dressing gown back on.

"See," said the Doctor, putting his arms around their shoulders. "I could do it. Even with my trousers on backwards, and a—what's this, a satsuma?—in my pocket."

"Oh, that'll be Mum's friend's," said Rose. "That's his dressing gown."

The Doctor shrugged. "Your mum's got funny taste in friends." He tossed the satsuma away. It bounced off a button on the side of the spaceship.

Rose turned. The Sycorax leader was plummeting toward Earth, sword in hand.

The Doctor put his arm back around her shoulders. "That was quite rude of him," he said absently. "I don't hold with rudeness."

Once back inside, the Doctor made the Sycorax formally promise not to return to Earth.

"Do you think they'll listen to him?" Mickey asked.

"Oh, they'll listen to him," said Rose, as the Doctor finished his speech.

"When you talk of the Earth, then make sure that you tell them this:" He enunciated every word. "It. Is. Defended."

The next thing Rose knew, they were back where they had come from, outside the Powell Estate.

She blinked.

"We did it!" Mickey cried. "Look!" He pointed. There was a thunderous noise from up above as the Sycorax ship flew away.

Jack grabbed Rose and spun her around. "Couldn't have done it without me," he reminded her.

"Sure, timeship captain," she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Rose!" It was Jackie.

"Mum!" Rose ran to her mother and hugged her.

"Oh, I knew you could do it. And the Doctor? He's all right? It's really him?"

Rose grinned. "It's really him. All he needed was a good cup of tea."

The Doctor strode over to join them and gave Jackie a hug. Jack, Rose and Mickey joined them.

"I'm glad you're all better," said Jackie.

The Doctor grinned. "I thought I'd never hear you say that."

"Oh, come on, now!"

Jack grinned. "It's because of the new hair, isn't it?"

The Doctor pretended to look offended. "Oh, now, Jack, you're just jealous!"

Suddenly, a bolt of green light shot out of the ground somewhere off in the distance. Three more bolts from different locations joined it, uniting into an enormous laser, which shot into the sky. A few seconds later, there was an explosion somewhere miles above their heads.

"What was that?" cried Rose.

"Don't tell me…" muttered Jack.

"That was murder," said the Doctor harshly.

"That was defense," said Harriet Jones coolly. "It's adapted from alien technology. A ship that fell to Earth ten years ago."

"But they were leaving."

Rose listened to the exchange. She could hardly believe this was the same Harriet Jones. The woman she and the Doctor had met before had been a kind woman, but the prime minister was ruthless and cold.

She leaned over to Jack. "Do you know anything about this time in history?" she whispered.

"Not much," he replied. "I knew the twenty-first century was when Earth first made contact with other civilizations. But I had no idea it happened like this."

The Doctor whispered something to Harriet Jones's translator, and then turned to rejoin the others. He walked off, between Jack and Rose, not looking back.

* * *

"No, no, no, you know I hate those!" Jack pulled his plate back as Rose came at him with a spoonful of sprouts. Rose, Jack, Mickey and Jackie were sitting down to Christmas dinner. The Doctor had said there was something he needed to do in the TARDIS and that he would join them later.

"Oh, but, Captain, they're good for you," said Jackie. "Give you big muscles."

Jack flexed his arm to show her he already had them.

"Oh, come on," said Mickey. "We're trying to eat here."

The door to the flat opened and they all turned to look. It was the Doctor, but he had changed his clothes—he was now wearing a brown suit.

"New outfit," remarked Rose.

The Doctor smiled and went to sit down between them. "New Doctor."

Jack grinned. "I like a man in a suit."

"Good to know," said the Doctor. "Now, let's have some sprouts! I love sprouts!"

Jack made a face.

"Come on!" said the Doctor, putting some on his plate. "No party hat for Captain Jack unless he eats his veggies!"

"I'm glad you're back," said Rose quietly, as Jack choked down his sprouts.

The Doctor smiled at her and squeezed her hand under the table. "Even if I've got a new body?"

She smiled back. "I think we'll get used to it."

"There." Jack set his fork down. "Happy?"

"Ecstatic." The Doctor reached for a cracker to pull with him. "Green really is your color, you know."

Rose laughed and adjusted her own hat.

The phone rang and Jackie went to answer it. Rose glanced up at the TV. "It's Harriet Jones!" she exclaimed.

Wordlessly, the Doctor stood up and moved closer to the television. He pulled a pair of glasses out of his pocket and slipped them on. Rose and Jack joined him. The Prime Minister was being questioned by reporters—something about rumors regarding the ill state of her health.

"Why are they asking her all those questions?" Rose asked.

"What did you say to her?" Jack asked.

The Doctor didn't say anything.

Jackie returned from the kitchen. "It's Beth," she said. "She says go and look outside."

The five of them headed outside. It was snowing.

"Oh, look," said Rose, pointing. "Meteors?" She looked at the Doctor and Jack.

"It's the ship breaking up," said Jack, putting his hands in the back pockets of his jeans.

"This isn't snow," added the Doctor. "It's ash."

Rose's face fell.

"I told you this was when everything changed," said Jack. "I guess today was that day."

The Doctor sighed. "New Doctor, new world."

Rose stepped closer to the other two and linked arms with them. "It just seems so different."

The Doctor shrugged. "Change is the spice of life. Change is what gets mankind out to the stars! Change is fun, change is terrifying. Change… Change is what powers the universe."

Rose looked back up at the sky. "I just hope it doesn't all change too fast, you know."

"Well," said the Doctor turning to look at her. "Not everything's changed. Mickey's still Mickey. You're still you. Jack's still Jack."

"And you're still the Doctor."

"Exactly."

The three of them looked back up at the sky.

"And I'll take you two someplace where it really _is_ snow."


End file.
